It would be too lazy to chalk up “Entertainment” as mere indie sleaze, but at the same time, it’s inevitable that a dance-punk banger like this hits the reactionary nerves of the discourse. Kareem Rahma know this. For his part, Rhama – a Brooklyn-based comedian, filmmaker and content creator – has built a career out of turning the mirror on our culture as a way to make comical quips on its very online status. The band in tow, Tiny Gun, is also all for it. Consisting of Dale Eisinger, formerly the drummer of noise rockers YVETTE and the person behind the shitposting experimental electronic outlet Terminal Scout, alongside guitarist Tyler McCauley of Motion Studies, the trio are a natural connection in conceptualizing the presentation of tastemaking and the epicenter of “cool” in its most absurdist terms. The thing is that “Entertainment” isn’t even trying to be a work of fiction or hyperbole for your kicks. It gets its fuel in Gang of Four worship (or for Gen-Z readers, a version of LCD Soundsystem with more guitars…) from the moments where real life actually did go hard. There’s people dancing and sucking face to Lil Jon, and that’s the high of it. But Rhama isn’t just about idealizing influencer goals. The other half of the narrative is the one the rest of the world is probably stuck living in. “And maybe I could live in a suburb / Have a big white dog named Charlie / Maybe I could get a real occupation / Buy a gun and a truck in the summer.” As the listen propels itself away from that doom and into a state of mania where the demand to be entertained is in excess (sidenote: the band made 10 videos for this single,) you have to wonder if these hedonistic highs people are living vicariously through (and even culturally appropriating from a past era) nowadays are happening because the alternative – and more certain reality – kind of sucks.

Edited by: Hudson Price

Kareem Rahma’s Tiny Gun’s “Entertainment” single is available now.